The FastDay Forum

Sorry to offend you @peebles I guess what I really meant was I like the "look" of the time. The house interiors, the dresses. You're right, though, women have been badly treated through the years and I guess its better now than its ever been. I'm sure that tv/movies romanticise things but that provides us with an escape from reality. Isn't that what make-believe is all about?

Sorry to upset you, I was just trying to express a craving for something more than material things. It seems strange to imagine a time when there weren't any computers doesn't it.

I understand what you're saying @peebles about the fifties..but my memories of the fifties are overall fond ones..i was a kid throughout the fifties and i think i also understand what @nursebeansenses about that time - (senses coz she wasn't alive in the fifties to experience the things i like recalling..)
We had very little comforts -no bathroom or indoor loo,not much heating in the house,not much food even BUT i know i had a childhood better than many children have today..we played freely and roamed wild,made up our own games,stayed slim and healthy coz we rarely sat down except when in school...i was a kid til i was about 14, had no awareness of my body til then,no experience ever of bullying or being taunted by other children coz i didnt have the latest gimmick. None of us had many playthings and we used our imaginations to devise games i remember to this day..all our Dads had permanent jobs,most of the Mums worked part time. We left school with every expectation of a job for life. Day to day life WAS simpler,for us kids anyway,tho of course there were many many problems that needed addressing in most areas of life..but there are a great many wrongs now that still need eradicating..e.g., child abuse and animal cruelty.
I know without a doubt that the community i grew up in was a much more secure and happy place than it is nowadays - i.e., devastated by drug and gun culture, with many ' lost ' youths ' living dead end lives at best,criminal at worst.
I think many people look back on the fifties with nostalgia and wistfulness. X

This year DD is travelling to SA to spend with friends. I know I am very fortunate - I have the pleasure of cooking Xmas lunch for my parents in the family home - 95 and 89, my sister and BIL and brother Noel, it is his birthday on Xmas day, no pressure! Boxing day is a buffet - they are opening up their house for all their friends and neighbours. On 22nd I'm joining the Liverpool meet up and then I'm cooking! Can't ask more than that.... yep must get those cards off to peeps in far parts of the world.

[Debs]

@peebles, I don't think Bean was trying to romanticise an entire decade that was as flawed as it was. Even those of us who haven't lived through it are aware of the problems and injustices. It was more to do with the materialistic society we live in and the need for 'stuff', that we never knew we needed before. I for one agree with her on that, we are drowning in a world of buy today, worry about tomorrow materialism whilst other people don't have enough to eat or clean drinking water.
That is why we don't give gifts that aren't appreciated or needed, and donate to charity instead.

Well there ARE still some lovely things around about the holidays. Back home enjoying the John Lewis ad #montythepenguin http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/news ... dvert.html

The John Lewis ad brought a tear to my eye @Rawkaren and then I thought........"If someone you love doesn't have a sexual partner, it's ok, just buy them one". I'm saying that slightly ironically, but I'm wondering...... when we consider the things which are happenning these days, perhaps it's not so sweet after all. I suppose the mesage of the advert is that we can buy the things which make us happy, as it would be, from John Lewis, that's what they are about.

Sorry to be so full of humbug!
I actually love Christmas and enjoy giving special things to special people!

Bracken

Well there ARE still some lovely things around about the holidays. Back home enjoying the John Lewis ad #montythepenguin http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/news ... dvert.html

Isnt it gorgeous @rawkaren ... I love the John Lennon song Real Love,i wish John Lewis had used the Beatles version rather than a cover tho
I love the Marks ad too

http://www.marksandspencer.com/s/christ ... =458013167

Christmas and shopping will be over early for me this year as I have to ship everything back home. My OH & DD are going off to sail Key West the day after Christmas, so we aren't going in for the usual crazy few days between both families, so it will be a quiet one here. I do love Christmas, but we don't put the tree up until the day after Thanksgiving. Since the kids come home for Thanksgiving we spend some time together getting the tree ready, getting the house decorated and then will do prayers together every day of Advent via email. Ahhh, modern technology! So we try to keep the commercial side of things out because that does drive me a little wankers, and the season for me is about quiet contemplation and reflection. I've had to work very hard to get to that place. It takes a lot of intentional effort to ignore the dark side of overconsumption. We don't need perfect gifts, we have more than we need already - services or a movie gift certificates for later use or sometimes charitable donations have been the norm the last several years. I am lucky to be blessed with what I have, so I do try to take the time to appreciate that. I am grateful for the support on this forum & opportunity to learn about so many others' lives around the world.

Movie gift certificates sound like the perfect gift idea to me!!
Oh I've just seen that penguin advert. How cute is that! Did you know that those penguins cost £95? Hmm bargain?
Is it me or are Christmas adverts starting a lot earlier this year? Man Alive it felt like Christmas day yesterday whilst watching Downton Abbey! Favourite character? Molesly. I've always liked Kevin Doyle!
Bean

@Debs, I wanted to respond to your comment about Christmas in summer, an Australian Christmas. I have to say that Christmas never really made sense to me until I spent it in Europe and experienced it in the cold. The food made sense, the winter festival idea made sense. Since then I've embraced Christmas and I try to make it Australian. I had an English grandma ,(from Yorkshire), who always made the best mince pies and we used to do the whole traditional dinner with Christmas pudding. So I like to keep that part alive somehow, but in recent years, when I have had to cater to thousands of sisters, BiLs, nieces and nephews as well as my own DS and DiLs and so on, I have gone more into the Australian traditions: pavlova and raspberries, seafood. cold dishes and salads. As long as there's a feast. I always make mince pies, Christmas puddings, and Christmas cake. Compared to Japan say, Australia has few meaningful community festivals. It's because we are culturally young. So we have to make the most of what we have. Let's not let money interests take away an opportunity to celebrate together. It's ours, not theirs. And @Debs you're an Australian now, so let's do it! I think spending Christmas in England, understanding it in that context, helped me come to terms with the fact that I'm Australian and we can do this festival our way.

This year I am making my presents. I have this thing made of fabric and some kind of light board which can open up and support a book so that you can read at the table . It holds the book up right so it is easy to read with transition lens glasses. I inherited this from my mum and possibly she made it originally. It has 2 hooks on the bottom which you slip the book under and that holds it open. I don't know how easy it's going to be to make. I have some recycled light board and I'll have to try out a model soon. Once I have figured out the hooks, I'll go into mass production. I have made cards. Next step is to make a plan and find the Christmas cake recipe.

[Debs]

@Sallyo, thank you for your thoughtful post. I confess I have a very jaundiced view of Xmas from when I was young and now I just avoid it like the plague for both religious and consumerism reasons. Having said that if we have friends or family over we go out of our way to create an Australian Xmas for them.
Last Xmas our oldest friends came over, people very keen on the festivities, so we pulled out all the stops.

Decorations were made from gold and silver sprayed gum nuts and euc leaves. The pine tree was pilfered from the side of the road with hubby and our friend leaping out of the car with a hacksaw and elf hats and cutting it down and throwing it the back of the ute, all the while killing ourselves laughing as we drove home!
We decorated the tree with a combination of local plants and Union Flag bunting. Brekky was a bbq outside as was lunch with local scallops, crayfish and environmentally grown prawns and local sav blanc. Pudding was Xmas pud icecream and local muscat. All in all, they said it was the best Xmas they had ever had, I think because we focussed on having fun and good food.
This year? We are both working a long way from eachother, but that's ok because we miss the stress, the shopping, the inducement to spend more than we can afford. Next Xmas OH's sister and BIL will be over, so we shall do it all again!!

I spotted a Christmas wreath on someone's wall in Penrith this week. Judging by appearances though, they might have forgotten to take it down last year ... or the year before ...

As I do grocery shopping only once a month now, I can deal with the Christmas stuff for sale way too early way better

I was quite shocked to see a house, near my parents ' house, fully decorated on the outside, with the lights on and everything

Christmas is a "normal" day for me. No big feast, no gifts either, except a small thing like an eternal rose for my mother, a cd for my dad and a granted wish for OH. The last time Christmas was a big deal for me was when I was a teenager. As soon as my grandparents died, the big family meals were over.

I really think that, having Christmas around as early as the beginning of October really helped killing it for me

ok the incessant TV ads are driving me insane. It is way too early people. What is wrong with everyone?
However I'm in London today and even I think the deco's look pretty.

It's the best thing about not owning a T.V., not having to put with way too early ads